Those of you who subscribe to the Mogul Mindset eblasts (which is easily done via the subscription box on the top right of the homepage) probably already know that the name “Mogul Mindset” was inspired by Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand.

From reading about this billionaire businessman, extreme adventurer, and bon vivant, I came to believe something that I had always suspected: that ultra-successful people think in such a way that gives them the edge in the business world. And I also came to believe that the lessons that can be learned by studying Sir Richard and his ilk can be applied to anyone’s career, including those in entertainment.

In fact, by reading the “Inside Scoop” profiles of established entertainment pros (and even the “Making it Happen” stories of people creating their own opportunities), you can identify a lot of the same qualities that our mogul “patron saint” (if you will) Sir Richard has, though usually not to the same extent. He is a rare breed.

But today we’re pulling another seat up to the Mogul Mindset honorary board of directors…

Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome Jay Z!

Now a lot of you are probably familiar with Jay Z. He’s a rapper and record producer. He’s married to Beyoncé. He is also the owner of a clothing line, Rocawear, co-owner of the 40/40 Club chain of upscale sports bars, and a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team. He was the CEO of Def-Jam records for three years and founded Roc-A-fella Records. He has many other deals with various individuals, brands, and companies, and appears to be pursuing more opportunities every day.

In addition to the many, many interviews done over the years, Jay Z has now released a book, Decoded, so we can read his life story in his own words. Like Richard Branson did with his autobiography, Losing My Virginity, Jay Z delves deep into mistakes made and lessons learned on his personal journey from the Marcy Projects to late night tete-a-tetes with ex-presidents and cultural icons.

So what can WE can take from Jay Z’s stratospheric success story for our own entertainment careers?

Like with Sir Richard Branson, it is somewhat easy to identify certain recurring patterns linked to Jay Z’s amazing accomplishments, patterns of thought and behavior anyone can adopt and use to give themselves the best chance at entertainment career success or success in any field.

Learn the Lesson One of the things I really enjoyed about Decoded was Jay Z’s keen observations into his own life path, as well as those of personal friends and acquaintances, fellow rappers, and public figures alike. He credits his father with teaching him to pay attention, and he has spent most of a lifetime of documenting what he saw and experienced in his music. He has finely-honed his analytical skills and uses them as he navigates his business dealings and artistic choices.

Know Your Value Early on in Jay Z’s career, he noticed one brand of clothing was dominant at his shows – the same brand he was wearing. He approached the heads of that clothing label about an endorsement deal and was snubbed. He and his partner decided they didn’t want to keep putting money in that company’s pockets. So they started their own clothing label.

Ask “How Hard Could It Be?” (This is one quality he shares with Richard Branson – and, I would imagine, probably most ultra-successful people.) It’s not easy to start a clothing label. But they did it. Ditto starting a record label. (Though, in that case, it was out of necessity because no established labels wanted to record him.) But both Rocawear and Roc-A-Fella were huge successes. In fact, Rocawear was sold to a larger company in 2007 for a couple hundred million. How hard could it be? indeed.

Honor Your Source Jay Z’s musical career began with him rapping for his friends in the neighborhood, weaving stories about his life back then more as a storytelling exercise than as a career move. (There were no careers in rap music when he started.) And he continues to tell personal stories, now on a worldwide stage. It’s the way he initially connected to his audience and he maintains that connection to this day. He has also been quoted as saying he considers all of his brands an extension of himself, not just a business investment. That kind of involvement takes an enormous amount of energy, but it is why his other brands, like his music, continue to resonate so deeply and to so large an audience.

So, Your Industry Insider gives a heartfelt welcome to Mr. Jay Z as he joins our honorary board of directors. And we thank him for writing Decoded so we could get an in-depth look at his life, his career, and his music.

Photo by Whittlz.

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Thought it would be appropriate that the first recommendation of 2010 be a book by/about the patron saint of the Mogul Mindset eBlasts. (Don’t know what those are? Click here.)

Richard Branson was a mogul-in-the-making from very early in his life, starting up a publication called Student when he was still in high school and having the nerve to approach central cultural figures of the day (60s London, in this case), such as The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and The Beatles’ John Lennon, to be interviewed (they accepted!).

He went on from this magazine to the music business, starting with a mail order service and ultimately becoming a producer and growing a record label, Virgin Music. From there, he carefully lept into other areas (the seeming contradiction of carefully leaping is deliberate), such as starting Virgin Atlantic airline based on nothing more than a core philosophy of “How hard could it be?”

Richard Branson’s story is instructive and inspiring and he tells it with panache. It is very detailed, sometimes, in my opinion, to a fault, but maybe that’s because I’m less interested in his hot air balloon adventures than other readers, who might enjoy being along for the ride every daring step of the way.

I was definitely along for the ride of growing several businesses, recovering from set-backs, making big mistakes but also achieving huge victories. I think anyone interested in succeeding in business on a large scale would be wise to pick up a copy of Losing My Virginity. (In fact, click on the book jacket above and you can order it right now!)

Know anyone who could use an entertainment industry insider? Encourage them to sign up on the YII home page to receive our Mogul Mindset eBlasts today!

The term “mogul mindset” came from reading Virgin chief, Richard Branson’s autobiography, “Losing my Virginity,” and realizing that his mind worked in such a way as to make success on a global level almost inevitable for him.

Listed below are just some of the patterns of thought I identified that led to his amazing accomplishments and that I think anyone can use to maximize their chances of getting to the top of the Hollywood heap:

Ask “How Hard Could It Be?”  As a teenager, Richard Branson decided to start an alternative student publication. That idea became Student, a magazine which featured all of the English celebrities of the day, and ran for several years, ultimately with a circulation of 100,000 distributed throughout the UK. Later, he started a record label, Virgin Music, and then an airline, both from scratch.

Put One Foot In Front of the Other  When young Richard Branson wanted to start what became Student, without a pause, he made a list of potential contributors and advertisers, and called the local bookstore chain to see if they would stock the magazine. Later on, when considering starting an airline, he picked up the phone and tried to lease a jumbo jet from Boeing. And then he called a potential competitor’s booking line to see how busy they were. Step one, step two…

Don’t Let Fear of Failure Get In the Way of Success When you have big dreams, lots of people will tell you you’re crazy. And others will secretly- or not so secretly- root against you (and maybe even plot against you!) when you start to make progress toward your big dreams. Richard Branson was often torn apart in the press when he started forming Virgin Airways. If you think that stopped him, you haven’t taken a Virgin flight lately– but you could!

Stay True to Yourself- In Richard Branson’s case, this means pursuing businesses for the fun and adventure, and trying to remain above board even when the competition is being underhanded. It also means sticking up for himself in court- and in the court of public opinion- as when he had proof that British Airways was employing unfair- and even illegal- tactics to ruin Virgin Air.

The Mogul Mindset eBlasts are designed to convey bite-sized lessons from the bigwigs in this industry (and sometimes others) and provide a related call to action. Also included is a feature called “Don’t Be That Person” about actual missteps made by people climbing the ladder (so the savvy MM reader can avoid making the same mistakes), and the opportunity for subscribers to ask and get answers to their entertainment career questions.

So if you or someone you know could use a little motivation and/or education in their career, the Mogul Mindset eBlasts are just the solution.

YII’s Mogul Mindset eBlasts will keep you up-to-date on the latest posts on Your Industry Insider, with information designed to provide a head start if you’re still in school, get you started on the right foot if you’ve just graduated, help you transition from another industry, or get you unstuck if you’ve hit a roadblock on the path to success. Sign up today!

Photo used with limited permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/halonfury/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0